Chapter 89: Lillian Eldoria.

In my past life, I loved my mother deeply.

I had no choice.

She was the only one who spoke to me, the only one who smiled at me.

At the same time, I hated her profoundly.

My mother always locked me in a cramped, single-room space, and behind her fleeting kind smiles lay relentless abuse.

One day, a being approached me.

To someone like me, bound by the existence of my mother, they became a sanctuary, a priceless friend that I could never trade for anything.

Overwhelmed by the joy of speaking with someone else, I shared my thoughts with her every day, pouring my heart out.

One day, she quietly proposed something to me.

“Don’t you want to escape your mother’s grasp?

Don’t you want to enjoy the sunlight under a clear sky and freely converse with others?”

I hesitated for a moment but eventually nodded.

She showed me the way.

On a night when my mother was drunk and deeply asleep, I cautiously called the police.

Before they arrived, following her instructions, I cut my wrist.

Not deeply enough to bring death, but just enough to leave a wound.

Because of that wound, my mother was sent to prison.

And not long after, news came that she had ended her life in that bleak cell.

Everything unfolded exactly as she had told me.

Now, I was no longer confined to that tiny room, and I could live seeing many faces around me.

But I wasn’t happy.

Instead, every day was filled with torment, akin to hell itself.

It was my mother.

She was my irreplaceable love, my only remaining family.

She was my mother.

What had I done to her?

The abuse had undoubtedly been painful and unbearable, but I missed the occasional gentle smiles my mother would give me.

Most days, I had to make do with watery rice, but I yearned desperately for the warm meal my mother would prepare when she was in a good mood.

One day, unable to endure the guilt any longer, I confided my anguish to the orphanage director.

For a brief moment, I hoped her comfort might lighten my burden, but before long, rumors about me began to spread within the orphanage.

Soon, I was branded among the children as a parricidal monster who killed her own mother, and people’s attitudes toward me changed completely.

It wasn’t hatred or pity.

It was thorough indifference, as though they ignored my existence entirely.

Like I was filthy refuse, everyone avoided me.

Occasionally, there were those who sought me out, but they were only creepy individuals intrigued by my appearance, which resembled my mother’s.

In this overwhelming indifference, my mind began to crumble, and ironically, my longing for my mother only grew stronger.

I thought that I would rather be locked in that tiny room again, even endure that painful abuse, if it meant I could return to her arms.

[Do you want to see your mother again?]

Then, she asked me once more.

Hell.

A place where I could meet my mother again.

I didn’t care if it was the devil’s temptation.

I already knew from the beginning that it wasn’t a benevolent being.

Even if everything was driven by malicious intent, it didn’t matter.

As long as I could return to her, the one who showed interest in my existence, nothing else mattered.

***

The sky, heavily laden with dark clouds, drenched the world in somber rain and an ashen hue.

“…”

The droplets sliding down Artasha’s face and mine—were they raindrops or tears?

Either way, they only served to drag our emotions deeper into the darkness.

“Have nothing to say, Artasha? This is goodbye now.”

Artasha sat desolately on the ground, soaked by the rain. Her bowed head was heavily shadowed, and she didn’t so much as flinch.

Was the emotion filling her now resentment, anger, or perhaps emptiness?

Whatever it was, it would leave the deepest wound of her life, tormenting her forever.

I turned my emotionless eyes away from her. Artasha was now nothing more than an unnecessary attachment to me.

Just as I was about to walk away, Artasha suddenly grabbed my wrist with surprising force.

“…I knew it. I knew it all along. The daughter who had never once called me ‘mother’ suddenly changed one day, acting sweetly toward me.”

Her voice carried the weight of deeply buried sincerity.

“Is that so.”

“I suppose I, too, merely chose to look away from reality. I couldn’t bear to lose this dreamlike time with the daughter I hadn’t seen smile in years. I was too afraid.”

“Yes, Artasha. You were running away.”

“So, it’s true… You’re not my daughter, are you?”

The once warm blue eyes that had always gazed at me with love now stared at me, sunken and empty.

My heart ached.

Yet, the more it hurt, the more a cold smirk spread across my lips as I mocked her.

“What must I do for you to believe me? Should I dig up the grave of your beloved husband whom Tina adored?”

“…Where is my daughter?”

“Hmm, who knows? Perhaps she’s in heaven?”

Considering Tina’s personality, there’s a greater chance she’s in hell, but there was no need to add that.

Artasha steadied her staggering body and stood upright.

Seeing her standing so firmly surprised me.

Her sole reason for existence had been the will to live for her daughter. With that reason now gone, I had expected her to crumble.

‘…What a remarkably strong person.’

Once again, I felt a pang of envy and resentment toward Tina.

“Let me ask one more thing.”

“…Go ahead.”

“Earlier, why were you crying?”

My body trembled involuntarily.

I lowered my head for a moment, clenching my fists so tightly they turned white.

“It was just so amusing to see you struggle, Artasha, that I nearly wept from laughter.”

“…”

“Well then, this is farewell. It’s been delightful, Mother.”

She left behind a faint smile and walked forward.

Without looking back, she quickly departed the place.

“One thing’s for sure—you share with my daughter the inability to lie.”

Ignoring her voice that flowed into my ears, I simply pressed on.

If I were to see her expression now, I might not be able to erase this lingering attachment.

***

My bedroom, upon return, was steeped in an unbearable silence.

Glancing at the clock, I saw that it was already well past five in the morning.

In about an hour, dawn would break, and the gray world would be gently embraced by warm sunlight.

But I would no longer exist in that world.

Slowly, I approached the mirror.

Inside, something was waiting for me.

“Now, can I go?”

I asked it.

It responded with a grotesque grin, its mouth stretched unnaturally wide.

Before long, the mirror began to crack, and a shard of glass, just large enough to hold, lay before me.

I picked up the shard and drove it deeply into my hand.

With the blood that flowed, I drew a small pentagram on the wall.

Soon after, from the ominously glowing red circle, a black, formless monster emerged and enveloped me in its embrace.

[Hihihihi! Hahaha! Finally, finally, your soul is murky enough not to burn my hand.]

[You already know, don’t you? That you can no longer escape my grasp.]

When had it started?

When had my will crumbled, leaving my body beyond my control?

When had my rational mind begun to blur and waver?

[Trying to run is futile. Your soul is no longer pure white. Now, you’re no different from any ordinary human.]

“It doesn’t matter. As long as I can return to my mother.”

[Huhu, don’t worry. In your current state, you can certainly cross the threshold of hell.]

The black, shapeless monster laughed eerily, splitting its mouth wide, and spat out a small object.

It was something familiar.

The small kitchen knife with which I had ended my life in a previous existence.

The monster handed me the knife with its massive, grinning mouth.

[Good. One last time—just one more.]

I slowly gripped the knife. The cold feel of the metal made my entire body begin to chill.

[Now, let’s rot forever in hell together, with me and your mother.]

The black, shapeless monster swelled as if it were about to burst, encircling me and painting the surrounding space in darkness.

[Come on! Stab! This time, aim for the heart! And then you can go to her!]

The space shrouded in darkness grew increasingly silent.

The faint sound of the early morning breeze and the distant chirping of crickets were swallowed by the void, vanishing entirely.

Finally, in the perfect stillness, I tightly gripped the knife with both hands.

‘Still… there were a few good memories, weren’t there?’

I raised the knife high.

Its tip was aimed directly at my heart, and with this knife, the pitiful and wretched life I had lived would at last come to an end.

But I wasn’t afraid.

For me, solitude was a deeper pain than death.

Gathering strength, I swung the sword with all my might, driving it toward my heart.

And at last.

Thunk—

The sound of flesh tearing accompanied a spray of crimson blood in the darkness.

The vivid red soaked my white dress, wrapping my entire body in its warm embrace.

It was strangely calming.

Oddly enough, throughout the entire process, I felt no pain.

Truly, not even a hint of agony.

No, it was bizarre how there wasn’t any pain at all.

“…Huh?”

Something was off.

“Rejoice in the corrupted darkness, yet let your gaze fall with love upon the pure soul—for such is the essence of a demon.”

A voice, as clear and melodic as a bell, echoed.

[…Impossible.]

A growling voice, dripping with malice, reverberated.

“The temptation of a demon is seductively potent, their voice sweeter than honey, and their venom deeper than the abyss.”

[You… You wretched girl! How dare you!!!]

“They are beings of terror, the faith of evil, and the embodiment of humanity’s primal fears.”

In the pitch-black void, an eerily familiar voice rang out.

“But did you know, Tina? To a steadfast heart that never wavers, a demon is no more threatening than a mere beast.”

With a lighthearted laugh, the darkness-drenched space flashed brilliantly for an instant.

The radiance was so intense that I instinctively shut my eyes tight, unable to face it.

“Tina, you can’t die recklessly until my vengeance is complete.”

As the blinding light gradually subsided, I slowly opened my eyes.

There stood a girl.

A girl with an air of unmatched beauty and virtue, her pink hair flowing gracefully in the breeze.

“I don’t intend to let you go until you’ve paid for all your sins, you know?”

“You… How could you…?”

Lillian Eldoria.

Faced with her radiant smile, I couldn’t utter a single word.